Belarusian Band VAL: Love Unites People

The young, vibrant, and unique Belarusian band VAL was set to represent our country at Eurovision 2020. For the second time in the history of the global competition, a Belarusian-language song was to be performed on stage. Due to the pandemic outbreak, the European Broadcasting Union canceled the contest and announced its postponement to 2021. We hope that the world will hear the song “Da vidna” then. Meanwhile, we found many other important reasons to meet with the band for an interview. They are a new and bright name in Belarusian music history; a group that captivates with its unique performance and modern approach. Vocalist Valeria Gribusova and sound producer Vladislav Pashkevich shared their “alphabet” of life—how they created their creative union, nurtured self-belief, and strived for new heights.

A

Vlad: A is the first letter of the alphabet, the beginning, the starting point. We met Lera in 2015, and in the spring of 2016, we decided to do something together. That’s when our first song, “Kto ty est'” (Who You Are), was born. It was completely different from all the subsequent ones. It was released on May 1—a day that became the starting point of our project’s history. This is our point A.

Geolocation

Lera: Our geolocation is beautiful—it’s Minsk, Belarus. Many people want to fly to another country, thinking that true happiness awaits them there. We believe it’s important to do what you can right here, in your own geolocation. Who, if not us? The people around us, more than anyone else, can understand us. They grew up mentally with us; they understand our culture…

Vlad: I recall the story of Ivan Dorn. In 2016, he went to America to write an English-language album. When he returned, he noted that he couldn’t truly feel the American people and their mentality like his own. He returned to his roots, began to appreciate them more, find charm in them, and apply these influences to his music… And this reflected positively on his creativity, in my opinion.

“Da vidna”

Vlad: This is a song written specifically for Eurovision. It’s our group’s first Belarusian-language song. Nikita Naidenov wrote the lyrics, and Lera and I composed the music.

Lera: “Da vidna” means “until dawn.” It’s a song about a girl who married not for love. What happens from sunset to dawn remains a mystery. We wanted to touch on the topic of gender equality and women’s rights. She has the right to be happy and choose who to be with. After all, you can’t command the heart. I believe that it’s important for a woman today to be able to stand up for her rights and have her own arguments.

Life

Vlad: We love life. It’s great to feel it in all its manifestations—sometimes bitter, sometimes sweet, salty, sour… It’s cool when you can catch this different love for life and cultivate it within yourself.

Lera: And it’s great to do what you love. Then not a single day will feel like work! Life will be exciting, eventful, and rich. Now we have a crazy schedule—broadcasts, meetings, interviews. We don’t belong to ourselves, but this is a great investment in the future. Everything that is happening to us now in life is happiness. We get tired, don’t sleep, feel drained, but at the same time, we catch a charge and inspiration from doing what we love.

“Kto ty est'” (Who You Are)

Lera: This is the name of our first song. It’s about how important it is to be yourself and understand your purpose, not to play some role. In our world, it’s not easy to remain yourself: we are dependent on social networks, beauty standards, stereotypical thinking…

Vlad: For me, K is commerce. Knowing how to maintain the balance when you are yourself and it sells well is important for an artist. We try to find a balance between who we are, the joy of our work, and commerce.

Love

Lera: I want to talk about love for our work and… love between us. If we hadn’t met, there wouldn’t be our victories and successes today. Love unites people. Love for us is still a UFO. But we are gradually getting to know it.

Fashion

Lera: Fashion and music go hand in hand in my life. I enjoy following fashion; it’s also an art. As a child, I always asked my mom to buy me glossy magazines—I loved them! Mom said, “Lera, you don’t live in the real world, you live in gloss!” Yes, I always wanted to be like a diva! (Laughs.)

Visuals are very important in our profession—it’s your self-expression. But more important than fashion is style. It’s cool to find that image in which you feel comfortable, confident, and… delicious. When you like how you look, everyone else likes it too.

I’ve had many experiments with style—from a shaved head to long cold blonde hair. Now I want to grow my hair long again. For the Eurovision selection, I had a headpiece made for my performance—a unique head accessory from the beloved Belarusian jewelry designer Vedovka, not a chandelier, as many joked! (Laughs.)

Also, in terms of style and self-confidence, the vogue dance has helped me a lot. It’s closely related to fashion and positioning. It’s a beautiful presentation of oneself through music, dance, clothing, and behavior on stage.

Neo

Lera: Neo, new, new. We love creating something new, unique, and eclectic. That’s what happened with our song “Da vidna,” which is a mix of different genres. When asked about our style, we say, “We play in the style of VAL!” We create a mix of various styles and influences.

Vlad: I want to expand the palette of sounds even more. But Lera doesn’t allow it yet and says that I need to do a solo project and embody all the ideas! (Laughs.) I try to add something new to each song that I haven’t done before. Even if it’s a detail that no one will notice, I will know: if I haven’t done anything new, then I haven’t grown.

ONUKA and Uniqueness

Vlad: ONUKA is one of our favorite Ukrainian bands; we’ve been to their concerts many times. It was their creativity in 2016 that inspired us to start our creative journey.

Lera: And O is uniqueness. Unique taste, unique music. Uniqueness is very important in any creative endeavor.

Father and Producer

Lera: P is for father. Unfortunately, I had very little father in my life. I always had to be strong. But now I’m actively compensating for it. I want to talk about our producer Andrei Kalina. We have close, family-like relationships. He is like a second father to us. And finally, I can feel weak next to such a father.

Vlad: I want to thank my father: he always supported me. I do music largely because he helped me. Both in buying equipment and believing in myself…

Entertainment

Lera: It’s important for us to spend time usefully. You’re unlikely to see us at a techno rave; we’d rather choose to relax in nature, with a book or a good series. Or just a day in bed.

We like beautiful, quality cinema. We like directors such as Sam Esmail (creator of the series “Mr. Robot”) and Paolo Sorrentino—I dream of shooting a video with him! We draw inspiration from all our entertainment.

Patience

Vlad: I notice that many people often give up on musical activities because it’s indeed not easy. The first steps are always the hardest, and not everyone has the patience. Sometimes people ask us, “How do you manage to achieve so much? Such concerts, fans…” I have one piece of advice and answer: don’t rush. At the beginning of our creative journey, we often performed for free, met people, and searched for our path.

Lera: We worked hard to get to where we are now.